Gujarat's 27% healthcare facilities 'mixing up' biomedical and municipal waste: Study

Finding “serious gaps” in disposing of biomedical waste in Gujarat, a new study, jointly carried out by Delhi-based environmental group Toxics Link in collaboration of Ahmedabad’s Paryavaran Mitra, has found that 13% of health facilities in what India’s powers-that-be consider “model state” have not even tied up with a Common Bio Medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF), a condition without which they are not allowed to operate under law.
Worse, in a “grave” violation, the study said, 27% of the surveyed facilities are mixing their biomedical waste with municipal waste, while 15% facilities are disposing of their hazardous waste along with biomedical waste (BMW). This not only violates the law but also leads to increased infectious waste volumes as well as release of toxic products into the environment.
According to the study, titled ‘Don’t Dump That’, which seeks to assess the current status of hospital waste management in four major districts of Gujarat – Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and Sabarkantha – most healthcare facilities including clinics pay no attention to occupational health and safety of the healthcare staff.

Thus, it said, activities like needle recapping were prevalent in 87% of the facilities and around 90% lacked any policy for post exposure prophylaxis. Pointing out that absence of needle cutters from important points in hospitals is a serious concern and may result in needle stick injuries and also needle reuse, it added, needle injuries have been globally identified as one of the key reasons for the spread of infectious diseases like Hepatitis and HIV among health care staff.
Satish Sinha, associate director, Toxics Link, cautioned, “The biomedical waste management rules in Gujarat are not being implemented on ground by most healthcare facilities specially the small clinics. Regulatory agencies need to strengthen the system and take legal action against healthcare facilities not following proper norms and also closely monitor the CBWTFs.”
The study, which collected data on biomedical waste management practices pre-Covid from 145 healthcare facilities from these four districts, including government and private hospitals and small clinics, found that the segregation practices were not proper in many of the facilities.
Most of the facilities visited had not installed an effluent treatment plant and many of them were not even connected to tertiary effluent treatment plants and were releasing liquid waste directly into the sewage system, it added.
The study further said, many hospitals were also not pre-treating their laboratory waste which is required as per the rules. Since most of the healthcare facilities are operating without adhering to the norms of the biomedical waste 2016 rules, it raises a question on the quality of monitoring mechanisms being adopted in the state.

The study found the condition of the waste storage areas in most hospitals poor and violating the norms laid by the 2016 rules, adding, the concerns related to functioning of CBWTFs, as there have been several reports earlier of the violations by some of them. “We found bags filled with waste lying unattended in some of the hospital premises”, said Paryavaran Mitra’s Mahesh Pandya.

Some key findings

Most healthcare facilities (HCFs) do not have their own websites, which is mandatory under the new rules
Most HCFs have not uploaded their annual report on their website, mandatory under the new Rules.
Biomedical waste generation records highlight improper reporting and mixing of general waste with biomedical waste.
Poor infrastructure in the storage areas, basic requirements not met.
13% facilities visited under the study not connected to CBWTFs
27% facilities disposing municipal solid waste along with biomedical waste
15% facilities disposing hazardous waste along with biomedical waste
Filled waste bags lying unattended in the hospital premises
19% facilities not pre-treating their microbiological waste/lab waste
Most facilities lack pre-treatment equipment like microwave/ autoclave
None of the hospitals have installed effluent treatment plant
Recapping of needle, a frequent activity seen in 87% HCFs and in 100% clinics
Lack of policy for post exposure prophylaxis
Information and communication material not placed at strategic locations
Case study and existing reports show appalling conditions of CBWTFs

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Unchecked urbanisation, waste dumping: Study warns of 'invited disaster' as khadi floods threaten half of Surat

An action research report, “Invited Disaster: Khadi Floods in Surat City”, published by two civil rights groups, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Surat, states that nearly half of Gujarat's top urban conglomerate—known for its concentration of textile and diamond polishing industries—is affected by the dumping of debris and solid waste, along with the release of treated and untreated sewage into the khadis (rivulets), thereby increasing the risk of flood disaster.

Polymath academy or echo chamber? A personal take on knowledge, control, and WhatsApp moderation

A few months back, I was made a member of a WhatsApp group called Polymath Academy. Frankly, I didn’t know what the word polymath meant until its administrator, veteran Gujarat-based sociologist Vidyut Joshi — with whom I have been interacting since the mid-1990s when he was with the Gandhi Labour Institute — told me it refers to a person with an exceptional academic record.

Two decades on, hunger still haunts Gujarat: Survey exposes stark gap behind poverty claims

A Niti Aayog report , released about two years ago, estimated that in Gujarat — which our powers-that-be have long considered a model state — 11.66% of people are "multidimensionally poor," a term referring to an index that seeks to estimate "multiple and simultaneous deprivations" at the household level across three macro categories: health, education, and living standards.

English proficiency for empowerment: Modi’s SCOPE vision contrasts Amit Shah’s remark

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah may have asserted that soon a time would come when those speaking English in the country would “feel ashamed”, it is ironic that Narendra Modi, when he was Gujarat chief minister, had launched what was called the SCOPE programme, actively involving the University of Cambridge to provide opportunities to the youth of Gujarat to "become not just job seekers but job creators (entrepreneurs)."

Whither whistleblower concerns? Air India crash: Govt of India report suggests human error

Is the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, seeking to bail out Boeing in its preliminary report released recently despite the top MNC's whistleblower concerns ? It would seem so, if the Ministry's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's (AAIB's) preliminary findings into the catastrophic crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registration VT-ANB, which went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on 12 June 2025, killing all 241 on board and 19 on the ground, is any indication.

Search This Blog